Category Archives: Supply Chain Issues

Grocery Co-ops of small stores competing with Supermarkets

Posted on February 18, 2011 by aviyer2010

The Economist (January 29, 2011, pg 64) describes how a collection of small stores are uniting as a co-op to develop customer loyalty cards, negotiate with branded manufacturers and offer electronic discounts to preferred customers.  The article comments on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , | 67 Comments

Adjusting Runway designs to new material cost realities

Posted on February 17, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (February 17, 2011, D1) describes changes in runway designs to accommodate the rising prices of cotton, silk etc.  One designer describes changes in material (leather to crinkled satin), length of the dress, number of bows … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Differential inspection of generic manufacturing facilities

Posted on February 16, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (February 16, 2011, B1-3) describes the fact that FDA inspection of US pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities is usually once every two years but foreign plants are inspected less frequently, with 64 % of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Political Risk and Global Supply Chain Impact

Posted on February 16, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Economist (Schumpeter, February 12, 2011, pg 75) describes the impact of political risk on the supply chain. It starts with the abrupt impact of the changes in Egypt on the company that controlled 67 % of … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Neiman Marcus Assortment changes and potential impact

Posted on February 16, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (15 February 2011) describes the past strategy at Neiman Marcus and changes to respond to the 30 % sales drop in December 2008.   The article describes that 50 % of its sales were generated … Continue reading →

Posted in Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Global Supply Chain Impact

Posted on February 15, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the International Herald Tribune (14 February 2011) describes the TPP – which involves the Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam (and possibly Japan).  The article describes the possible impact of such a pact … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Commodity price increases, margin impact and choices

Posted on February 15, 2011 by aviyer2010

A Wall Street Journal article (14 February 2011) describes the impact of commodity price increases have driven down average operating margins – by $ 500 million for Kraft and $ 1 billion for Proctor & Gamble.  The focus on productivity … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

US Manufacturing decreases and possible Innovation Impact

Posted on February 14, 2011 by aviyer2010

A New York Times article (February 12, 2011) describes the drop in employment in US manufacturing – from 11.6 million in 1979 to 8.1 million in 2010, and worries about the consequent impact on innovation.  Some experts suggest that manufacturing … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Modular Nuclear Reactors and attaining carbon footprint reduction

Posted on February 13, 2011 by aviyer2010

The New York Times (13 February 2011) has an article describing a plan to subsidize design of modular nuclear reactors that can be manufactured in a factory and transported, like modular homes, to replace coal fired power plants at their … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Dredging the Missisisippi, transport costs and global competitiveness

Posted on February 12, 2011 by aviyer2010

An article in the Wall Street Journal (February 12, 2011) describes the US Army Corps of Engineers claim that they are running short of dredging funds to dredge to the preferred widths and depths.  The impact is that pilots of … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Contexts, Operations Management, Supply Chain Issues | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment